Doubting China's One-Child Policy Change

Why many advocacy groups are condemning another's optimistic report.

Melissa Steffan/ November 1, 2012

Image: Ho / EPN / Newscom

Good News/Bad News: As China watchers wonder whether the viral photo of Chinese mother Feng Jianmei and her aborted baby will impact the nation's one-child policy, ChinaAid accuses All Girls Allowed of falling for government propaganda.

Doubting China's One-Child Policy Change

Why many advocacy groups are condemning another's optimistic report.

Melissa Steffan/ November 1, 2012

When All Girls Allowed (AGA) applauded the apparent end of late-term forced abortions under China's one-child policy, it unleashed a firestorm. "That was the last thing we anticipated," said director of communications Kat Lewis.

After a photo of Chinese mother Feng Jianmei and her aborted baby went viral in China this summer, AGA reported in September that the Chinese central government's family planning committee gave local officials in Chongqing written orders to stop using such abortions to enforce family size limits. "Even if that's just propaganda, we think it's worth highlighting because then they're accountable for it," said Lewis.

ChinaAid founder and president Bob Fu called AGA naïve and erroneous for "unintentionally [acting] in concert with the Chinese government's propaganda efforts."

In spite of the criticism, AGA released a second, bolder statement claiming the Chinese government was outlawing forced abortions altogether. The organization defended its interpretation by noting that its case team "has not found a single report of forced abortion since July."